Advantage Trust Co Buys Shares of 450 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tucker Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $415,496.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $10,318,864.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EMN traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $101.09. 724,360 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,073,194. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.94. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $102.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 41.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EMN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.18.

Eastman Chemical Company Profile

Eastman Chemical Company operates as a specialty materials company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company's Additives & Functional Products segment offers amine derivative-based building blocks, intermediates for surfactants, metam-based soil fumigants, and organic acid-based solutions; specialty coalescent and solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; and heat transfer and aviation fluids.